Cornice-brake.



G. G. KEENB. CORNICE BRAKE. APPLIoATloN FILED JUNE 24, 190s.

lmnmea` Nov. 3o, 1909.

Ewen/021 y i aan UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE C. KEENE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

CORNICIE-BRAKEA 941 ,rsa

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. KEENE, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCornice-Brakes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cornice-brakes having a swinging-apron for usein bending sheet metal at the desired angles and the object thereof isto make it possible to take a sheet or thin plate of metal and bend itin the clamping-jaws of a cornice-brake so that true alinement of theangles in such sheet or plate may be maintained and the invention,therefore, consists in the provision of a pair of suitably mountedclamping-jaws, a bending-apron swung on pivots in axial relationparallel to the fore edge or mouth of said jaws and having a depressedor sunken outer face in the same perpendicular plane as that of the saidfore edge or mouth of the jaws, and an outwardly-extended bending-edgeconstructed along the upper, fore edge of said apron, whereby a sheet orplate, in the act of being bent, is first bent at several angles, ascustomary, and then the unbent portion thereof clamped between the jawswith the already-bent portion hanging pendent with a part thereofaccommodated by the depressed or sunken face of the said apron so thatthe neXt bend in the sheet shall be in true alinement' with the angle insaid part that is accommodated by the depressed face of the apron.

Tn the accompanying sheet of drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure lis a fragmentary front elevation of one form of cornice-brake made by meand having my improvement herein applied thereto, the bending-apron andthe jaw parts of the machine being shown in normal position beforereceiving a sheet to be operated upon; Fig. 2, a sectional elevationtaken on the dotted-line c, a, of Fig. l, but on a somewhat larger scaleand showing in dottedlines a metal sheet in the process of being bent tothe desired shape, the fourth step in the bending of such sheet beingready to take place by swinging the bending-apron upward and resultingin a bend that will be in true alinement with the lirst bend made in thesheet; Fig. 3, a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the bending-apronin its uppermost swung position and in the act of Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed June 24, 1908.

Patented Nov. 30, 1909a serial No. 440,117.

completing the fourth bend in the sheet, such bend being in truealinement with the first bend in the sheet; Fig. 4C, an end view (infull elevation) of the sheet seen in Fig. 2 and showing a cross thereonto indicate where the fourth bend is made in the sheet; and Fig. 5, aview similar to Fig. l but with the sheet shown as having its fourthbend made therein.

In these views, l indicates one of the upright end-frames of themachine, there being two, as customary, but only one of them shownherein, by way of convenience and on a larger scale for clearness.

2 indicates the upper one of the pair of clamping-jaws and 8 indicatesthe lower one of said pair of clamping-jaws suitably mounted betweensaid end-frames, the upper jaw being the stationary one and the lowerjaw being the movable one, any suitable actuating devices being used toproperly raiseA and lower said lower jaw to and from clamping position.I have shown in the drawings an actuating mechanism for said lower jaw,which has already been patented by me, under date May l0, 1887, No.362,749, and it comprises a pair of vertical lifting-bars, a rock-shaft,a foot-treadle on said rock-shaft, a reversing hand-rod connected tosaid foot-treadle and suitable adjusting devices for the proper settingof the two jaws to suit the thickness of the metal being bent in themachine and such other leveling or adjustment of both said jaws, as maybe required.

4 indicates a bending-apron journaling at its opposite ends ta in boxes4b on the endframes and provided with hand-levers 5, one at each endthereof. The bending-apron is provided, as customary, with acounter-balancing device 6 at the outer end of one of its bearings sothat it may be swung on such bearings in an easy and effective manner.

7 indicates a depressed or sunken face provided on the front side of thebending-apron and 8 indicates an outwardly-projecting eX- tension orprotuberance made along the upper fore edge of said bending-apron.

The extension 8 forms, preferably, a part of a steel plate that is letinto a recess or shouldered portion made along the upper inner edge ofthe bending portion of the apron, as best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, thebody portion of the apron being made of hollow cast material and thusproviding for both strength and economy in the entire make-up llO Orconstruction Of the bending-apron in its preferred form. The steelbending-plate is detachably-held in place to provide for repairs orother desired reasons customary in the use and handling of such machinesas cornice-brakes, and the outer fore edge of such steel plate ispreferably blunted or flattened, as shown in both said Figs. 2 and 3, soas to avoid a sharp shearing edge along the bending portion of the apronthat might cause damage to vthe sheet inthe operation of bendingthereof. n

In the bending operation Of the machine, a flat sheet of metal is placedbetween the clamping-jaws at the desired position for the first bend tobe made therein and then the foOt-treadle is lowered to firmly clampsaid sheet ready for the next step of raising or swinging thebending-apron in a quarter circle upward; then the beiiding-aproii isallowed to swing downward to normal position and the foot-treadle israised by means of the hand-rod so as tO release the sheet from betweenthe jaws; then the sheet is again set in the jaws up tO the next desiredpoint of bending and the saine action of the machine repeated; then thesheet is released as before and reset between the jaws with itsalready-bent portion hanging pendent, as best seen in Fig. 2, and thebending-apron is now ready to swing in a quarter circle upward to theposition seen in Fig. 3 for the fourth bend in the sheet, the latterbeing shown in completed condition, with the first and fourth bends intrue alinement, as well, too, the second and third bends in truealinement. The extension along the fore edge of the bending-apron formsa powerful lever at the point of bending the sheet against the lowerfore edge Of the upper clamping-j aw and there is no chance of the sheetslipping or cracking along such bending edge projecting as it doesbeyond the angle Of bend in the throat of the machine.

The depressed or sunken face of the bending-apron forms a receptacle toallow the already-bent lower portion Of the sheet to position itselfinwardly toward the machine and to make due allowance and compensationfOr the desired alinement of the fourth bend in the sheet, as will bereadily seen by reference tO the several steps shown in the Operation ofbending the sheet seen in dotted-lines at in both Figs. 2 and 8, and inboth the partially completed and fully completed sheets seen in Figs. 4and 5, respectively.

I claim In a cornice brake, a pair of suitably mounted clamping-jaws, aswinging bending-apron journaled in axial relation to the mouth andbending-edge of said clampingjaws and having a depressed Or sunken planeface made along its front side in alinement with Or in the same unbrokenperpendicular line or plane as the said bending-edge Of the clamping awsand a forwardly extended bending-edge along the upper bending portion ofsaid apron.

GEORGE C. KEENE.

vWitnesses JOHN ELIAS JONES, NORMA Kinsnn.

